Almanac Footy: Will North Melbourne rise in 2026?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will North Melbourne rise in 2026? 

 

by Philip and Lucas Lewit-Mendes

 

 

Proposed Best 23

 

Backs

Pink, Logue, Archer

Half Backs

McKercher, Comben, Hardeman

Centre

Simpkin, Davies-Uniacke, O’Sullivan

Half Forwards

Spargo, Trembath, Curtis

Forwards

Zurhaar, Larkey, Dovaston

Followers

Xerri, Sheezel, Wardlaw

Interchange

McDonald, Parker, Powell, Stephens, Darling

 

 

Close to playing

Whitlock, Dawson, Daniel, Banch, Harvey, Konstanty, Duursma.

 

Youth still to make their debuts

Urquhart, Goad, Thredgold, Stevens, Mikunda.

 

Depth only

Hansen, Corr, Scott, Fisher, Coleman-Jones, Goater, George.

 

 

What are the key strengths?

On the surface, North’s preferred best 23 seems significantly improved compared to two years ago. The Roos have the nucleus of a strong midfield. Xerri is already one of the top rucks in the competition. LDU, Sheezel, Wardlaw, Powell, Parker and Simpkin provide a solid combination of grit and class. McKercher and O’Sullivan should provide additional dash and impact as they transition into midfield roles.

In attack, Larkey and Curtis are proven goal kickers, and Zurhaar has advanced his scoring potential. Comben has settled well as a tall defender.

 

What are the key areas needing improvement?

North has a major weakness in key defensive positions. They lack a strong tall intercepting defender, and don’t have a skilled distributor off half back.

Other than Larkey, they lack a reliable marking forward, and they also lack a proven goal scoring small forward.

 

What needs to go right?

Too often over the past few years, young players looked stagnant and confused with the ball. With a more settled list in 2026, now is the time to build some more team chemistry, take more risks with the ball, and trust their teammates.

North have drafted four talls in the last three drafts – Dawson, Whitlock, Goad and Thredgold – who have played few or no games. They desperately need at least two of those draftees to develop into strong key defenders or forwards (or a ruck/forward in the case of Goad). In the meantime, they have to hope that a combination of Logue, Pink and Corr can fill the gaps in defence.

They also need their two new small forwards – Charlie Spargo from Melbourne and Lachy Dovaston – to give the forward line some spark.

Additionally, they need Trembath to back up the excellent form he showed in his first three games late in 2025, and high draft pick Duursma to lift his performance.

 

What are the challenges?

One challenge will be balancing experience and youth. North need to get games into Whitlock, Dawson, Dovaston and Goad sooner rather than later, but playing them too early may hurt their confidence. When is the right time to select them ahead of say Darling, Konstanty and Corr?

The second challenge is balancing team strategy and supporter expectations. Teams such as Melbourne, Brisbane and Carlton that were down for long periods of time in recent decades often improved defensively before their offensive impact rose. Yet, supporters love to see their side scoring goals. Ideally, North can improve both ways in 2026.

 

 

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

 

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